Enemies until Death
by Liave Ekeli
Summary: The children of two bitter enemies meet for the last time. Their fathers have been enemies for as long as they can remember, and so have they. What was to be their final battle has taken place, but it did not quite turn out the way anyone expected it to
1. Enemies Until Death

**Enemies Until Death**

**Disclaimer:** All the characters of the Harry Potter universe are the property of J.K Rowling. I am simply using some of them for my own amusement. No money is being made from this, and no copyright infringement is in any way intended.  
**Author's Notes:** In some mysterious way, this first chapter has been absent from the story for some time. How that came to pass I have no idea, but I will admit that some of the reason might be linked to the author's lack of computer skills. Any way, the missing chapter is now here, enjoy!

Two blades swirled through the air, and stopped millimeters from the neck of the opponent. Alexandra and Leo had drawn their sword at precisely the same time and now pointed them at each others throats. Alexandra's sword rested on Leo's shoulder with the edge against his throat. Leo's sword was placed a little higher and rested against Alexandra's jaw. Both stood absolutely still, neither would make a single move as long as the opponent stood like that. When Alexandra's eyes had gotten used to the darkness of the room she saw who it was. She was quite surprised, but hid it well. Instead she said;

"What are _you_ doing here?"

Leo didn't answer right away. He was watching her. She was nothing like his father had said. She could have been beautiful, if she hadn't looked so frightening. She _was_ beautiful, but now there was nothing but a fighter's look in her eyes. She was quite tall for a girl, he would guess that she was about 5'9 tall. Besides she was thin. Not extremely thin, like so many other girls he knew. She was just thin, but he could see that she was strong by the way she held her sword. Besides she was flexible. He knew that from other fights. Her fingers were long and thin, but they held the sword safely in their grasp in her left hand. Her right hand she used to keep her balance. When she stood like this she looked like a tiger waiting for the right moment to strike.

Her hair was gathered in a braid which hung over her right shoulder. And her eyes…  
Her eyes were the colour of water from a glacier. A rare mixture of blue and green. Now they were full of will to fight, but he knew that they could also light up in a smile warm enough to melt solid rock. He had seen her give those smiles away, but not to him. Not to him.  
Her body stood tense. He thought that at least she had inherited her fathers will to fight. She would never quit, never give up. Never give up.

He stood there in all his might. And that was something. She would guess that he was at least two inches taller than her, if not more. Besides he looked strong there he stood holding his sword against her throat. That didn't hurt now, but she knew that if she was going to move, she had to do it fast, or that sword would move slightly upwards and cut her throat in a split second. She wouldn't be able to defend herself, not fight. She would bleed to death in seconds. He looked at her, staring right into her eyes. She had no choice. She had to look back. His eyes were blue like the clearest water. She couldn't make out what was in those eyes, even though she was usually very good at that. But these eyes she couldn't make out. There were no trace of fear in them, not even surprise. His body was tense, like he was waiting for her to make the next move. The hand who held the sword was steady as a rock. She knew that he wouldn't give way to her. He was dressed all in black, his hair was slightly lighter. Some of it lay in front of his right eye. He was good looking, but frightening. Like a black panther he stood there, waiting.

There they stood. Both of them. In the light of the full moon which shone in through the window of the tower where they were. They were enemies. Worse. They were enemies until death. She, Alexandra Black, daughter of Sirius Black. He, Leo Snape. Son of Severus Snape. Their father were enemies until death. And so would they be…

This was to be their last fight. They both knew that. They had been keeping a close eye on one another from the moment they had set foot in the castle. They had fought each other for power ever since then. Now that had to stop. Only one of them could survive, that was a part of the ancient rules of such duels.

Survival… of the fittest.


	2. The Fight

**The Fight**

**Disclaimer: **All characters from the Harry Potter universe belongs to J.K Rowling. No money is being made and no copyright infringement is intended.

The sound of steel against steel broke the silence of the tower. Their swords had met in mid air. The silent anticipation had disappeared like water in the sun, the fight was now on. The look in their eyes had changed.

In her eyes he could se fire and ice. It frightened him, although he had taught himself to keep his feelings hidden from view of any outsiders, and would surely not admit to being frightened by _her_.

She saw ice in his eyes as well. His eyes were so clear she couldn't believe it. She had never seen anything like his eyes. There was something in them, something she couldn't put her finger on, that she both loved and hated.

The fight continued, and it was clear that it was going to be an even fight where Lady Luck might decide who would come out the winner. They both got the occasional flesh wound, but nothing too serious, and indeed not life threatening. It continued like that for what must have been close to an hour. They were both tired, but him more than her. Her adrenaline had reached new levels, and even though she felt exhaustion drawing ever nearer she could not quit. Not because she was afraid of death, but just because she hated to loose. She was a competitive person, and not afraid to admit it. She had inherited many of her father's characteristics, including that.

He was getting tired, and seriously began to wonder if he had bitten over more than he would be able to swallow when he had challenged her to this fight. He had more than enough trouble defending himself against her sword, a sharp Japanese-looking thing similar to those the Samurais had used thousands of years ago.

The sharp sound of metal against stone sounded. Leo's sword now lay three or four feet from him. He was on his knees on the cold stone floor, and his hands was in the height of his chest..

He looked down and saw the tip of her sword against his chest, right where his heart was.

He looked up at her. She stood there, tall and frightening. Her eyes shone with something he could not decide what was. Was it triumph? No…it wasn't triumph. That looked different. It was something else. He felt hypnotized by the look in them, he felt like nothing mattered anymore. Life, death, it was all the same. All the same… if he could only disappear into those eyes.

She looked down at him. He had a distant look in his eyes, like he was somewhere else, far away. His eyes had a light in them, a light she had never seen in anyone's eyes before. If she did it, that light would go out. If she killed him, she would never see that light again. Should she do it never the less? Could she do it?

She turned her sword ninety degrees so that the tip stood vertically on his chest. Then she closed her eyes, and thrust the blade of the sword into his body.

He fell over her sword, his body was numb. She sat her foot in his stomach and pulled the sword out. He landed in a twisted position on the floor, he had fallen backwards and his upper body lay between his legs.

She felt cold. She felt like she was beside her own body, looking at herself. She wiped the blood off and sheated her sword, and hung it over her shoulder. Then she walked calmly over to where he lay. She bent over him and kissed him softly on the forehead.

The window opened easily and the cold night air caressed her face. She jumped lightly up on the window still. Before she jumped out she turned and looked over at him. He was still breathing shallowly.

One swift move later she was on the roof of the nearest building. From there the road back was like a walk in the park.


	3. Thoughts of the Aftermath

**Thoughts of the Aftermath**

**Disclaimer: **All the characters of the Harry Potter universe belongs to J.K Rowling. No money is being made and no copyright infringement is intended. The characters Alexandra Black and Leo Snape however are of my reation and belong to me.

Severus Snape ran up the stairs of the tower. His black cloak billowed behind him. He stopped when he reached the door at the top of the tower. He took a deep breath and put his left hand on the door handle. Then he froze. Although he tried to hide it from himself he was scared, terrified. He was scared of what he would see when he opened the door. The tower was silent. The battle had to be over.

He felt as if his heart stopped when he pushed the door open. He saw a body lying on the stone floor in the moonlight. It lay there in sharp relief to the darkness of the rest of the tower. He gasped involuntarily, the body belonged to his son.  
His body seemed paralysed for several seconds before he gained movement and ran over to the apparently lifeless body on the floor.  
He knelt beside his son, and almost yelled out in surprise when he found he was still alive.  
Suddenly he heard a voice behind him.  
"Hurry, Severus. Let's get him to the hospital wing as soon as we can."  
He turned and saw the tall, thin figure of Albus Dumbledore. Dumbledore took two steps into the room and waved his wand. "Mobil Corpus"  
The body of Leo Snape lifted off the floor and soared through the air out through the door of the tower. Dumbledore followed suit.

Snape could not move. His body was numb, and would not obey him when he commanded it to stand up.  
After what felt like forever, Dumbledore came back. He pulled Snape to his feet before he spoke a word. But when he did, his voice was hard.  
"How far are you going with this? Tell me that, Severus. It's bad enough that you and Sirius can't stand each other, but now this has gone way to far. I'm not going to risk loosing two very gifted students and good people because their fathers are out of their wits!"  
Severus Snape felt the red hot anger flood through his veins. He was not the one who had started this!  
" Do you think I would risk my son's life to get back at that man!"  
"No! But I think your son would risk his own life to get back at his daughter, because he hated her. Or at least thought he did."  
"This is madness, Dumbledore. Either you hate someone, or you don't."  
"People have taught each other who to hate and who not to hate for centuries, Severus. You would not be the first to teach your son to despise your own enemies."  
" I did not teach him to despise anyone!"  
" Did you not? You never spoke ill of Sirius Black when he heard it? Are you sure? Children have long ears, Severus. They often hear more than we intend them to, and often also things that is not meant for their ears." Dumbledore sighed.  
"Your son is so much alike you in so many ways, both good and bad. He is a wonderful man in most things, like his father…" Dumbledore smiled at him.  
"…but Severus, this madness has got to stop before someone gets killed. Voldemort is back, we have to lay all of _our_ differences aside. We cannot fight amongst ourselves now. That goes for all of us. Sirius, Alexandra, Leo, you and everyone else close to the Order. We no longer have such a luxury."

The night was dark and cold. It felt like it was going to rain, a sense of humidity in the air. The sky was clouded with no moon and no stars.  
Alexandra sat on the roof of Grimauld's Place number 12 lost in her own thoughts. The house was quiet. Most of the inhabitants were not there, but probably on some kind of mission for the Order. Her father was somewhere in the house, but they had an understanding that he stayed out of her way, and she stayed out of his.  
She had no close relationship with her father. After all she had only known him for about a year. And it took longer than that for her to open up to anyone.  
"Why had she kissed him? Why the hell had she done that? What was the point? Why hadn't she just killed him when she had the chance?"  
She had wanted to thrust the blade of her sword into that stone heart of his ever since she had heard her father tell about his father, Severus Snape.  
Then why hadn't she just done it. She had the chance, and it was extremely unlikely that she would ever have that chance again.  
She shook her head slightly. She didn't even understand it herself.  
And the kiss… that was the most stupid thing she had ever done, without comparison. It was just a stupid notion. Just stupid…  
'I mean, I _hate_ the guy. He's the most obnoxious person I have ever met.'  
She spoke to herself in a low voice, where she sat on the roof. Then she shook her head again and got up. She sat on her broomstick and kicked off from the rooftop. She needed to get back to school before sunrise, unseen.


	4. At Hogwarts

**At Hogwarts**

**Disclaimer: **All the characters of the Harry Potter universe belongs to J.K Rowling. No money is being made and no copyright infingement is intended.

Alex climbed carefully through the window to the Gryffindor 7th year dormitories. Just as she landed on the carpeted floor thinking she had awoken no one, she heard a whispering shriek.  
"Alex! Oh Alex, Thank God you're all right."  
She turned and saw her best friend sitting on the edge of her bed.  
"So, what happened? Did you…?"  
Alex shook her head.  
"Ha! I knew it! I knew you couldn't do it."  
"Yeah, like you could have."  
"You're damn right I could have! I'm telling you that nothing would please me more than to be able to see that worm on the floor in front of me begging for his life."  
"Yeah, well there's the problem Willow. He didn't beg."  
"He didn't?"  
"No, he didn't. He just looked at me, like he was waiting for me to do it. And I just couldn't…"  
Will sniggered.  
"You know that I'm going to mentally trash you about this for the rest of your life, right?"  
Alex nodded.  
"Yeah…"

At that both of them fell into silent fitts of laughter. It was an early Saturday morning, and no one was up yet. Will and Alex went down to the Gryffindor common room. There they sat in two of the chairs nearest the fireplace talking about the things friends normally talk about… or close, anyway.  
"I'd prefer a 9 mm anyday!"  
"Yeah well, you're of muggle decent. Of course you'd prefer a muggle weapon."  
"I will, somewhat reluctantly, agree that nothing can beat a wizarding weapon…if you are such a coward that you don't dare to look you victim in the eyes."  
"Hm… fortunate that none of us are cowards then."  
They both burst out laughing.

He saw shadows. Colour, light, darkness. It was all a massive blur. He blinked, once, twice, to try and clear his vision. It didn't work, it was all still a blur. Then out of the shadows came a figure, tall, dark and frightening. It was wearing a mask… a white mask. The figure spoke.  
"Don't think you are worth anything. Don't think you are better than us. Don't think you can escape. You are one of us, Leo. You are _meant to be_ one of us.  
You cannot escape your fate."  
"No! You're wrong! I'm not one of you. I won't obey you. No…"

"Leo. Leo, can you hear me? Wake up dear child, you're dreaming. Leo, you're just dreaming.  
Can you hear me, child. Leo…"  
His body flinched slightly at the sound of a voice. He could hear it now, muffeled coming from what seemed like miles away. The voice was calling his name, calming him.  
"Shh… there you are, child. It was just a dream. Here, swallow this. This will help."  
The next thing he felt was that something cold was poured down his throat. He swallowed as best he could, and it didn't take long before he drifted of to a dreamless slumber.

Students that passed the Hogwarts hospital wing this Saturday morning would see an unusual sight. The Potion Master, Severus Snape was seen pacing up and down the corridor. While he paced he mumbled broken sentences under his voice, sentences which the passers-by couldn't get much out of.  
"_He'll be fine…fine. How could she…?…and Dumbledore accused me…I had nothing to do with this…nothing."  
_The only time he awoke from the apparent trance he was in, was when someone exited the hospital wing. Those interuptions came few and far between.  
When the clock in the hospital wing showed 5 pm, nurse Poppy Pomfrey stepped firmly out in the hallway. At that, Severus Snape turned so fast he almost collided with a floating candle.  
"How is he?"  
Madame Pomfrey sighed, but it was more because of Snape than his son.  
"He's stable. Not concious, but stable. And that's not going to change for a while even if you are determined to walk a half-maraton out here! Severus, please. I know he's your son, and I know you care deeply about him, but trust me to care for him. I've been hearing your steps echoing out here all day, and frankly it's been driving me crazy!"  
Snape looked as if he was just about to give Madame Pomfrey a solid piece of his own mind, but stopped himself at the last minute. He cared too deeply for his son to insult the woman who had saved his life. He simply turned and walked from the hospital wing.


	5. Revelations

**Revelations**

**Disclaimer: **All the characters of the Harry Potter universe belongs to J.K Rowling. No money is being made and no copyright infringement intended.

He awoke with a start, sitting bolt upright in his bed. He realised that it was his own scream that had awoken him. He heard fast steps coming towards him, and the voice of the school nurse, Madame Pomfrey.  
"Shh... Leo, it's all right. You were just dreaming. Calm down my child, it's all right. You are safe here."  
He felt her hands push him gently backwards, back onto the bed.  
His pulse was still racing, and his breathing was still shallow and quick, but he slowly began to calm down.  
He remembered the duel. How they had fought, how she seemed to know his every move even before he did himself. How her eyes gleamed with the will to fight. Fight him, and win. He felt a sharp sting under his ribs where a horizontal slit the length of a blade showed as the only sign of his fight. Madame Pomfrey was busy cleaning the wound with a greenish liquid that stinged a great deal.  
Leo stared up at the celing. He felt as if the fight had drained him of all the strength in his body. Soon the celing became blurry, and he drifted off to sleep once more.

In his quarters Severus Snape had dosed off in a large armchair. A soft knock on the door awoke him with a start. He jumped up from the chair and hurried to the door. Outside he found Poppy Pomfrey looking worried. He immidiantly feared the worst.  
"What's wrong? What's happened to him?"  
Madame Pomfrey lay a comforting hand on his arm.  
"He's fine, Severus. He's fine. But there is something you should see…"  
He followed her without a word. They made their way to the infirmary in silence, and none of them said a word until they stood beside Leo's bed.  
"I…I was cleaning his wound, and…and I saw…this." She pointed to something on Leo's left forearm. Snape stepped closer, and carefully lifted the arm of Leo's pyjamas. Suddenly he let go as if he had burned his hand. He said nothing, but simply turned and walked out of the infirmary, leaving a truly confused Madame Pomfrey behind.

When he was two floors above the infirmary he broke into a run. He ran as fast as he could upwards until he reached the very top of the Southern tower. Still short of breath he leant over the tower wall. He wanted to scream, but his voice seemed to have abandoned him temporarily. Inside his head however, he was screaming at the top of his lungs. Suddenly all strength seemed to drain from his body, and he collapsed beside the tower wall. He wanted scream, cry, hit something... He chose the last. He hit the stone wall again, and again, and again until he fell, and felt the cold stone underneath his head. He felt as if was going to pass out any minute. He felt the blood run from his hands, and felt the taste of it in his mouth.  
He ignored it all. There was only one thought in his head.  
_His son…his only son. His son had done it. The one thing he himself would have given his life to prevent. His son had taken the Mark.  
_It felt as if he had laid there for an eternity when a pair of strong hands lifted him to his feet while a familiar voice sounded in his ears.  
"Severus. Severus. Severus, wake up. Come on, you can't stay out here." He let himself be led back into the castle and along a corridor.  
He heard the voice give a password.  
_Sugar Quill  
_Then he was led up a set of stairs and felt himself fall half-concious into a chair.  
"Here. Drink this, Severus."

He obeyed, and felt a strong, hot sensation as the firewhiskey poured down his throat. That seemed to awake him from the apparent trance he had been in. As the room came into focus he saw the crouched figure of Albus Dumbledore beside the chair. He looked at Severus with worry in his eyes.  
"Severus, are you alright?"  
Severus looked down at his own hands, the skin torn to pieces by the unfriendly encounter with the stone.  
He nodded carefully, and his voice was no more than a whisper.  
"It's Leo. He has…" His voice broke.  
"… he has taken the Mark"

Dumbledore nodded silently. Severus took another large gulp of firewhiskey, and looked down at the swirls the whiskey made in the glass.  
"So it was true then. I've heard rumours of it but I hoped it was only a rumour."  
Snape looked up and shook his head slightly.  
"I failed him. When his mother died I swore to her that I would take care of him. That I wouldn't let anything bad happen to him…and now…this."  
"Don't blame yourself, Severus. You know better than anyone that it was _his_ choice. You could have done nothing more than you already have done. He'll come to his senses soon enough…and when he does we'll help him the way we once helped you…"  
Snape rested his head in his hands.  
"I just can't believe he did it. He saw what I had to go through to get away from them."  
"When you joined the Death Eaters, did you think you were ever going to leave?"  
Snape shook his head, and straightened up in his chair.  
"Now I would suggest you go back to your son. Be there when he wakes up. And get Poppy to fix your hands for you…"

Soon after, Severus Snape setteled down in a chair beside his son's bed. Watching his son's face in the moonlight, he remembered the night his son had been born, he remembered how overjoyed he had been when he had gotten his first letter from Hogwarts, and he remembered how his son slowly had begun to drift away from him when his mother had died.  
His eyes caught the mark on his son's arm, now almost obscured by the sleeve of his pyjamas. So, it had come to this…


	6. The Spy

**The Spy**

**Disclaimer: **All characters from the Harry Potter books belong to J.K.Rowling. No copyright infringement is intended.  
The characters Alex Black and Leo Snape are characers of my imagination, and belong to me.  
**Author's notes: **The story originally designed to be a one-shot is now up to six chapters. Yay! Well, anyway, here's the sixth chapter guys, enjoy!

Two weeks had passed since Alex and Leo had their duel in the tower. Leo was out of the hospital wing, but avoiding Alex and her friends to the best of his ability. Alex on her part didn't care much about what Leo did. She simply ignored him, and consentrated on the N.E.W.T's that was, despite everyone's protests, coming closer and closer. With N.E.W.T's, Quidditch, the DA and the fact that Lord Voldemort was back, Alex had more than enough on her plate to keep her busy, without keeping her eyes on Leo as well.

What Alex didn't realise was that although "Snape's bastard", as he was now known as among her fellow Gryffindors, did his best to stay out of her way, he was watching her more closely than before. Not that he was downright staring, there were just quick glances that had never been there before. A shard of hope that one time her blue-green eyes would meet his own.

A cloudy Friday at the end of May, the students were given terrible news when they arrived for breakfast in the Great Hall. Professor Dumbledore had been taken captive by Voldemort's supporters (though Professor McGonagall used the word You-Know-Who).  
The whispers among her fellow students grew to unknown heights, but remained, surprisingly, whispers. Some students burst out crying, others couldn't speak for shock. Alex herself shot a quick glance in Harry's direction. Harry was busy talking to Ron and a couple of other Gryffindors further up the table, but Hermione met her gaze and gave her a quick, almost invisible nod, to show that she understood what Alex thought. She turned to Harry and whispered something in his ear.  
Two minutes later Alex felt a hot sensation in the left pocket of her jeans. She pulled out what appeared to be a gold Galleon, but was really the mean of communication for the DA, Dumbledore's Army.  
On the upper edges of the coin, where the serialnumber was located on normal Galleons, there was something that could easily be mistaken for a serialnumber, by an outsider. But Alex was no outsider, she was very much an insider, and knew better. This was the excelent work of Hermione Granger.  
_29-5.18.00  
__In other words, meeting tonight at six o'clock._

The rest of the day passed in a blur. Alex was already consentrating about tonight. It was obviously that they had to do something. But what? Alex didn't know. What could they do? A bunch of students, barely seventeen years old.  
Fair enough, she was no stranger to weapons, magical or otherwise, but even if she could use a weapon well enough, most of the other DA members couldn't. And besides, the Aurors were supposed to be _trained_ for something like this. And if they couldn't find Dumbledore, how could the DA?

The classes that schoolday had been almost impossible. Everyone of the teachers, even Snape, seemed to have their minds elsewhere, and the students took advantage of every opportunity to discuss what would happen next. With Dumbledore gone, the road to power would be clear for Voldemort once again. What would the ministry do about it? What could the ministry do? Alex overheard Luna Lovegood saying that the Minister of Magic was already controlled by the Imperius curse in Herbology that day. Alex shook her head. Luna always had her own ideas, and most of them were as unlikely as the moon falling down from the sky, but for the first time there could be some truth in what she was saying. The Minister could, in theory, be controlled by the Imperius curse.

After classes ended that day, Alex returned to her dormitory to get rid of her all her books before the DA meeting. The dormitory was abandoned. The sight that met her was surprising, but not unexpected. A large owl sat on her bed, black as sin and with yellow eyes watching her. Beside it was a parcel. Alex hurried over to the bed and untied the parcel. The owl landed on her arm and hooted softly.

Alex whispered softly as she walked over to the window to let the owl back out.  
_Thank you. Did Nathaniel send you, Lorne?  
_The owl hooted softly again, as if to confirm she was right. She let the owl fly and turned to her bed again, where the parcel lay.

She knew instinctively what was in it, and who had sent it to her. Nathaniel was her grandfather on her mother's side, an ex-Auror, one of the best in his day. She had been raised with him and his wife Christine. Nathaniel had been slightly obsessed with learning Alex how to fight, how to defend herself, and she had been a natural talent. The parcel contained her weapons. She opened it carefully and found she had been right. These were indeed her weapons.  
She knew them better than anyone. They had been her friends when no one else had been, they had always protected her, even when no one else had.

The pistols had been specially made for her, because she was left handed. The bullets were magical, and did far more damage than muggle bullets could ever do. You could survive beeing shot with a muggle bullet with a little luck. No one ever survived these bullets, luck or no luck. These weapons were the same as the Aurors used, only better, because they were hers, and had been adjusted to her. Her grandfather had insisted on training her from the day she turned fourteen. Her grandmother had tried to get him to stop, but had given up.

She remembered her first lesson clear as it had been yesterday. Her grandfather had drawn his blade on her and held her at swordpoint while he explained the one rule she was never to forget. One rule. One.  
Never show your fear to anyone.

It had taken her almost a year to even understand what that really meant. It was not merely a question of beeing able to conceal fear, it was a question of not feeling fear. Fear was...unneccessary. One who had skill, did not need fear.  
And Alex had skill. She had good skill. She did not need fear, and she had none either. Not for her opponents.  
She touched the pistols carefully with the tips of her fingers. The metal felt cold against her skin. Then she grabbed the weapons and her sword, her wand was always in her pocket, and set of to the Room of Requirement.

The room was full of members of the DA. Some were deep in conversation with each other, others were silent as if lost in thought. Alex found her place in the back of the room, and sat down in a dark wooden chair, legs crossed. She had a good view of the whole room from where she sat. She sat silent, watching every move.

Then she spotted something. Something she knew wasn't supposed to be there. In a split second she reacted and made a sleek knife with a handle of black and silver fly across the room. The knife caught something near the wall opposite her, and nailed it to the wall. Alex found she had seen right. It was an invisibility cloak. And under it was Leo Snape.


	7. Black & Snape

**Black & Snape**

**Disclaimer: **All the characters from the Harry Potter universe belong to J.K.Rowling. No copyright infingement is intended. The characters Alex Black and Leo Snape are characters of my imagination, and they belong to me.  
**Author's Notes: **So, the seventh chapter is up. It's short, I know, but more chapters are coming. Enjoy!

The room had fallen silent in a second. The sound of the heels of Alex' shoes was the only sound audible as she stood up and walked slowly towards the spy, now nailed to the wall by her own knife. His sweater and his invisibility cloak was pierced by the knife over his right shoulder. His eyes shot invisible bolt of lightning toward her, but she didn't care. She had seen the mark on his left arm. He was her enemy, and she had no fear of him.

"_Well, well...what have we here. Are you lost, darling? Haven't your father managed to teach you anything?"  
_She was inches away from his face now. He snorted at her questions.  
"_He taught me never to trust a Black."  
_Alex gave a short laugh, looked him straight in his eyes and bent forward to whisper in his ear.  
"_Wise move, Snape."  
_She smiled slightly and her eyes had the look of a tiger overlooking it's prey.  
"_Didn't he ever teach you how foolish it is to walk in among your enemies when..."_ She stopped, and Leo thought she was going to stick her tounge in his ear. _"...when your enemies outnumber you"  
_Leo bent forwards and whispered back.  
"_I thought you were going to say...when you're unarmed..."  
_Alex laughed again, and sounded truly amused.  
"_If I had said that, I would have been the foolish one. And if your father never thaught you as much as that, he would have been more of a fool than I ever imagined. You and I are similar that way, Snape. We never go anywhere unarmed."  
_She smiled again, and turned her back on him. She turned to the rest of the DA.  
"_What do we do with him?"  
_Alexandra found the suggestions highly amusing. Decapitation was the most frequent one. Harry, however had said nothing. Alex turned towards him.  
"_Harry?"_

He stood up.  
"_Let's hear him out. Why did he come here tonight?"  
_Alex turned towards Snape again.  
"_Good question, Harry. Why **did** you come here tonight, Snape?  
_Snape didn't quite know what to say. He knew, of course, why he had come, but how could he tell them. The truth was that he wanted to get out of the mess symbolised by the mark on his left arm. And Dumbledore was the only one who could protect him.  
"_I want to help."  
_Alex smiled, a wry smile. Her voice was dripping with sarcasm when she spoke again.  
"_Really? Did you hear him, Harry? He wants to help. What could you help us with, if I dare ask..." _She was in his face again, scanning him from head to toe.  
"_I know how a Death Eater fights, how they think."  
_Alex smiled again, and turned from him and walked back across the room and sat down in the chair she had sat in previous to Snape's entrance to the room. She crossed her legs.  
"_Well, Snape. So do I...as you may remember. But if you think you can do better this time..." _she gestured towards him _"...be my guest..."_

Snape, still nailed to the wall, shook his head. Then he pulled the knife out the wall, and weighed it in his hand. Then, without warning, he threw the knife back at the woman sitting across the room from him. She caught it at arms length, and smiled.  
"_Nice..."  
_Harry turned towards Alex.  
"_Your call, Alex. Do you trust him?"  
_Alex shook her head.  
"_No, I don't. But I'll take him as my partner."_

Snape looked at her. Truly surprised.  
"_You and me, working alone?"  
_Alex stood up and walked over to him again.  
"_Yes. It's easier to see through you that way."_


	8. A Rescue

**The Rescue.**

**Disclaimer: **All characters from the Harry Potter universe belongs to J.K Rowling.  
The characters Alex Black, Leo Snape and Ashlyn Rae however, belong to me.  
**Author's Notes: **I apologise for being so slow with updating lately, but here it is, the longest chapter yet. Enjoy…

- Alex, get over here! And your…your…new partner as well.  
Ashlyn Rae, the Army's technical director, gave Alex a wry smile. Alex smiled back. She had known Ashlyn for as long as she could remember. Ashlyn had been one of the inhabitants of an orphanage not too far from where Alex lived.  
She gave Leo a wave, and he followed her over to the table where Ashlyn stood, handing out all sorts of clever devices to the Army's members.  
- Here. Communication devices for the both of you, tracking devices, I need to know where you are. That should be the basics… now go on.  
Alex made to move away, but Ashlyn held her back.  
- Alex, can I have a word?  
- Sure, Ash. What's up?  
- Are you sure this is a good idea?  
- What do you mean?  
- _Him. _Are you sure it's wise… He could be a spy, Alex. He could try to kill you again. What if he has joined _them?  
_- Don't be stupid, Ash. Now let's get this show going…

The building was quiet, unusually quiet. Only the distant sounds of a city were heard. Dark, deserted, the perfect place to keep someone captive. But where were the prison guards?  
_There is no way they are going to let us get in here without a fight. Dumbledore is too important for that…_ _What on earth are they up to?  
_The lobby was dark, except for the moonlight shining through the large skylight, which covered the whole ceiling. Majestic columns rose up in the darkness. Not a sign of life was in sight.  
Alex hid in the shadow of one of the columns, and waved Leo over.  
Leo sounded sceptical.  
- Where is everyone?  
- Oh, they're around.  
Alex smiled. Leo could see that even if the room was dark.  
- And that's all your going to tell me about that?  
- Mhm. Let's put it this way… They're here, and they'll do what they're here to do, just like us. And they'll come and help us if necessary… but we don't need help, do we?  
- Not if it's up to me we won't… But what are we suppose to do here?  
- We're the guardians. Our job is basically to look out for everyone else… to defend everyone if you like. Of all the ones here tonight we're the ones with most weapon training.  
- Yeah, I figured that, but…  
- What?  
- I might not be able to… No, just forget it.

They stood for a while, silent. Alex shot a glance over at Leo. Something seemed to have changed about him. He had lost some of the cocky, arrogant attitude she had known him by. Now he seemed…unsure, and somewhat afraid she sensed. And quite frankly that surprised her…  
Then all her senses concentrated. She had heard a noise, however faint. She nudged Leo.  
- Listen…  
They stood silent, tense, listening with every fibre of their body. Alex couldn't quite make out what the sound was. It sounded muffled, like it came from an isolated room or something…  
Leo made to move against where he thought the sound was coming from, but he was stopped by Alex' hand.  
- No. Don't. We stay here, where we're supposed to be. Let someone else worry about that.  
- But what if it's Dumbledore?  
- Then it's still not our job… I told you, we're just supposed to be guardians to everyone else.  
- The two best fighters here, and we're put up as guards. This isn't right, Alex. It's just not right. I'm going to see what it is…  
- No!  
Alex grabbed his arm, but he broke loose. She could do nothing but watch him make his way across the lobby. Well, _she _wasn't going to run off because of some noise. She was going to stay here and do her job.

Leo made his way silently across the lobby, making as little noise as possible, not bothering to look back on his partner. How could she be so stubborn? So hopeless? What if it really was Dumbledore making that noise, and Alex just ignored it…  
Leo shook his head slightly. Yeah, that would be just like her… just like a Black.  
But a small thought gave him much uneasiness. What if…  
_What if she's just being smart? What if she's proving to be the smart one…? What if it's a trap…? _A little voice inside his head said. _What if…  
_No! He couldn't think like that. There could be something important here somewhere, and if he found it. If he found it…he would have proven himself, proven which side he was really on. Despite what the mark on his arm showed. He had committed the biggest mistake of his life, and now he had to make up for it.

He was wrong. It struck him right when he opened the door. The building they were in was old, and it hadn't been used for ages. And the door he had just entered through didn't even creek when he pushed it open.  
He didn't have a chance to defend himself. He barely realised what was happening. They have found him. They knew…  
A cloaked and hooded figure silenced him with a quick spell. Then he was a subject to the spell he thought he never would feel, just use on others.  
- _Crucio!  
_He screamed. Or at least he thought he screamed. He had been silenced by a spell. He didn't know if he screamed, he didn't care either. The feeling, which closely resembled thousands of knives piercing his body, was indescribable to anyone who had never been objected to the spell and unbearable. His only whish was to die. Here, now, silent and alone, except for his torturers. Death would be welcome, calm and good. It would rip him away from the insufferable pain, his life and his endless line of mistakes. Hated and feared by all, and loved by no one.

He wanted so bad to let go, of everything, but he couldn't. He couldn't bring himself to stop breathing, stop thinking, and just… fade away. Something kept him back. Something in the back of his mind kept him thinking, kept him alive.  
Memories.  
Memories of good things. Few in number, but strong in feeling and effect. When his father had taken him to Diagon Alley after he had gotten his letter from school, and for one day hadn't demanded anything of him, but simply acted proud, as a father is supposed to. When his father for once, if only that one time, had acted, truly _acted _like his father.

And the time he had seen her for the first time. Her eyes had spellbound him, and he knew the first time he saw them, that he would never look into eyes like that ever again. Her hair had been black as the night, and he had realised later that she suited her name. Only he did not discover until later what that name was.  
Alexandra Black  
A Black. A mortal enemy. Never an acquaintance, never a friend, never more than a glance. A forbidden glance in the hallway or in classes.  
Forbidden Fruit.  
Never see, never talk to, and never touch.  
Kill. To save his own honour, and to save his father's honour.  
Honour.  
He didn't know what true honour was. He only knew the kind of honour that a Deatheater gains among his fellows when he or she has killed. Committed murder.  
He had never felt true honour. He had seen it, and believed that it existed. But he had never felt it.  
The honour the soul gives your brain when you have done something right. The honour given to you from your equals when you have proven yourself worthy of their respect and acknowledgement.

Alex Black cursed herself for her stupidity. How could she have been so naïve as to think that he would actually find Dumbledore? How could she be such a fool as to trust him, to think that he was truly her partner? He was probably back at his masters side by now, joined with his father in the service of The Dark Lord. Telling his master everything about the Army's rescuing attempt. And now they would be revealed, and caught, and maybe even killed. It hit Alex that Ashlyn might have been right, Leo could turn out to be a traitor. He had been her partner for a few hours only. She was being so unbelievably naive…  
The boiling anger rose up inside her. That dangerous anger she had inherited from her father, which could be as dangerous to herself as to anyone around her. Even her father had been objected to it from time to time…  
Now that anger was concentrated on Leo. Suddenly she didn't care about guarding anyone. If anyone needed guarding now, it was that traitor Leo Snape. She had forgotten everything she had said to Leo only minutes earlier. The traitor was going to pay for what he had done, and she wanted to be the one claiming the payment.

Alex ran across the room, the same way Leo had run some minutes earlier. She slowed down when she came close to the door that leading out of the room. She listened carefully after any sound that might give away what she could expect on the other side of that door. She heard nothing.  
Carefully she walked in, all her senses sharpened. She saw nothing.  
Or that is, she though she saw nothing. Leo lay in a dark corner; the Deatheaters had disapparated seconds before Alex walked in the door. ¨  
But Alex did not see. She had half expected to find a gathering of Deatheaters. She found no such thing, and she didn't bother to look. She didn't bother to light up the room.  
She didn't get much time to look either, because a few seconds after she had entered the room she heard a commotion from the room she had just left.  
She turned on her heel and ran out into the lobby.

There was a fight, a definitive fight. The Army had attracted almost twenty Deatheaters in their attempt to rescue Dumbledore. There was no such thing as a fair fight, not when the Deatheaters were concerned. But the Army did everything they could, they used every trick they could think of, and Alex fought like she had never fought before. She used every available weapon, her sword, her pistols, her knives, her wand and everything else in the lobby that could be used as a weapon. Tables and chairs were crushed to pieces. The light and sound of hundreds of spells filled the room.  
They made it.  
Alex didn't know how. She really didn't. But they made it.  
They rescued Dumbledore.


	9. What's Love Got To Do With It

**What's Love Got to Do With It**

**Disclaimer: **Everything from the Harry Potter universe belongs to J.K. Rowling. The only characters belonging to me are Alex Black, Leo Snape and Ashlyn Rae.  
**Author's Notes: **All right! I think we've come pretty close to an end to this story. One or two more chapters are in my plans at the moment.

- Alexandra, you don't understand. We need to find him…  
She didn't say anything, but her eyes shot imaginary bolts of lightning across the table at Dumbledore. He was sitting behind his desk looking imploringly at her.  
She would help him. Oh, she would help him all right…  
- When hell freezes over! He deserves everything he gets, and then some! He stood us up, and he could have blown the whole thing… He could have gotten the Army caught…  
Alex threw herself into a chair at the other side of Dumbledore's desk. Dumbledore looked gently at her.  
- You are disappointed in him, aren't you Alexandra?  
She didn't say anything, but sat there like a sulky six-year old, with a sour look on her face.  
- You helped him out, you trusted him, and he betrayed you…  
- You damn right I'm disappointed!  
Alex stood up so abruptly that the chair she had been sitting in fell backwards and hit the floor.  
- I'm disappointed and I'm angry… God, I'm so mad at him I could kill him if I had the chance!  
Oddly enough, Dumbledore smiled.  
- …And you're worried…and you love him as a friend, or maybe even more…  
Alex was so surprised at his words that she didn't know what to say. She looked at him, dumbstruck. Had he really gone stark, raving mad?  
- He's alike you, Alexandra, and you feel it even if you don't see it. Why else would you trust him? You, who have never actually trusted anyone before, not even your father… But you trusted him with your life. In the face of a struggle against Deatheaters he was the one you chose to cover you.  
- And he was one of them…

Her voice had lost some of its force, and her hands, which had been on their way to smash into Dumbledore's desk, stopped halfway. She turned away from Dumbledore, towards the fireplace, resting her face in her hands.  
Dumbledore took a step towards her, and put his hands gently on her shoulders.  
- Yes, he was, Alexandra, he was, but he is also so much more. He is not only his father's son…  
Dumbledore smiled  
- … He is Leonard Nathaniel Snape, formed by the world he has known, yes, but also with his own spirit in it all. He is Leonard Nathaniel Snape like you are Alexandra Louise Adelaide Sophie Black, and you two are similar creatures, whether you like it or not.  
Alex straightened up, stroking a strand of hair away from her eyes, and then she turned to Dumbledore.  
- Talk to Ashlyn Rae. She's in control of everything technical when it comes to the Army. She'll be able to track the signal of the tracking device he has… Tell her I said it was ok to tell you…  
- Thank you Alexandra, I will do that…  
- Can I go?  
- Yes, yes you can go. But remember, Alexandra, love means _everything…  
_Without another word Alex made her way from Dumbledore's office and back to the Gryffindor common room.

_It's out of my hands now_ she thought. What will be will be.  
She didn't feel like going to sleep, so she sat down in one of the chairs close to the fireplace.  
_The worst thing is…Dumbledore is right. I do care about him, more than I'll ever admit to anyone, including him. But what does it matter anyway? I can never be more than on speaking terms with him, at the most.  
__Love means everything…  
_Alex shook her head slightly.  
_What does he know? Nothing! Love is nothing more than a stupid, secondhand emotion that never did anything except cause trouble. _

The hospital corridor was quiet. The forthcoming war had yet to make a large impact. But it wouldn't be long before more people than an ex- Deatheater and ex- Dumbledore's Army member lay in there. He had survived once again.  
Leo Snape.  
An old wizard, known to most of the wizarding world, accompanied the young man. Albus Dumbledore.  
- Good evening, Leonard. How are you feeling?  
The young man, who now sported a scar on his right cheek, opened his eyes. He blinked a few times as if to focus his vision, and seemed to relax a bit when he saw that it was Dumbledore sitting by his bedside.  
- I'm ok, I guess…  
Dumbledore smiled gently.  
- Good. I hope you realise that you are lucky, Leonard. Not everyone would have survived such treatment without lasting injuries.  
- I know.  
The young man slowly tried to move in his bed, as if to make sure that his body still obeyed him.  
- I hope you also realise that you have someone to thank for this. You would not have survived much longer if we had not found you…  
He looked puzzled up at Dumbledore.  
- Who would that be?  
- A young woman named Alexandra Black.  
- Oh really… His voice suddenly dripped with sarcasm. … and _why,_ if I dare ask, should I thank _her_?  
Dumbledore smiled again.  
- Because, when she could have left you to die, she helped us find you, even if she, to use her own words, could have killed you if she had the chance. We would not have found you Leonard, if it were not for the fact that you had a rather nifty little tracking device on you, given to you by Ashlyn Rae. And Ashlyn Rae would not have done so much as open her mouth to reveal anything about you, if it wasn't for Alexandra.  
Think about that for a while Leonard. And think about that you owe Alexandra an apology. You let her down, and still she came to your aid when you needed help…

Dumbledore said nothing more, but left the room as quietly as he had come. Leo, whether he really wanted to or not, lay in deep thoughts for a long time.


	10. More Questions than Answers

**More Questions than Answers**

**Disclaimer: **All the characters of the Harry Potter universe belong to J.K Rowling, I am just borrowing them for my own amusement. The characters Alex Black and Leo Snape are my own creation and they belong to me.

- Hey Alex, have you seen this?  
Willow Cayden waved Alex over to the message board in the Gryffindor common room.  
- Hey Will, what's going on?  
Alex stood on her toes to see the message board over the heads of many other students.  
- An end-of-term ball for the seventh years.  
- Wow…  
Will laughed and fought her way out of the chaos of students in front of the message board.  
- Yeah  
- So, who are you asking?  
They made their way to their dormitory. Alex threw her books away in her trunk and after that threw herself down on the bed. Will followed her example and sat on the edge of her own four-poster bed.  
- Asking? To the ball you mean?  
- Well, yeah, what else?  
- I don't know.

Later that day, the Gryffindors had transfiguration with their Head of House, Professor McGonagall. When the class was almost over Professor McGonagall addressed them.  
- Those of you who have had their eyes with them today will have noticed the message on the House notice board. There is to be an end-of-term ball for those of you in the seventh year. It is tradition at these balls that the school Head Boy and Girl are the first ones to dance. There is, however, no requirement that they dance with each other. You are free to invite whomever you want as you partner.

Alex smiled broadly and looked over at Willow, who sat a couple of seats away from her. She looked positively horrified. Willow was Head Girl, but had never danced in her life. Alex was close to braking out in a fit of laughter at the sight of Willow's face.  
McGonagall seemed not to notice this, but continued.  
- … The ball will take place on the fifteenth of June, and will, I hope, be a suitable finish to your seven years as students of this school. That is all. You are dismissed.  
In the hustle of students leaving the room Willow found her way over to Alex.  
- What am I supposed to do?  
- What?  
- With the ball…?  
- Oh, that's easy Will, you get a partner and you dance the first dance with him.  
Willow looked furiously at Alex, and Alex couldn't help but laugh, seeing the look on Willow's face.  
- Oh don't be so bloody all knowing, Alex! You know perfectly well that I have never danced a minute of my life.  
Willow's voice turned from sounding angry to sounding helpless  
… How on earth am I supposed to pull this off, huh Alex?  
Alex shrugged  
- You'll have to learn. You just be glad you don't have to dance with _him_…  
Willow smiled.  
- Mhm, thank God the Head Boy and Girl don't have to dance with each other… I would _never _dance with Snape!  
- Do you think he can dance?

They were walking up the stairs to the Gryffindor common room, making their way past what seemed like hundreds of other students in the process.  
- Who, Snape? I don't know. I can't imagine someone taking the time to teach him how to dance… How about you, Alex, can you dance?  
Alex smiled and seemed somewhat embarrassed. She looked down at the floor for a few seconds and then looked up at Will again.  
- I… I dance well enough, I suppose…  
- Then you have to teach me.  
Alex laughed out loud.  
- No way!  
- Why not? I'm in real trouble, Alex. I'm Head Girl. You heard McGonagall; the Head Girl has to dance the first dance… And I can't dance, Alex!  
Alex had turned serious again now, and looked at Will.  
- Look Will, I can't teach you how to dance. It's not because I don't want to, it's because I'm incapable of teaching anyone anything… If you only knew how long it took me to learn…  
Alex threw her bag hard to the floor, in what seemed to be desperation. She didn't like the fact that she felt herself unable to help her best friend.  
- Speaking of which, who taught you how to dance anyway?

Alex smiled as she remembered her dancing lessons. The truth was that she had never been a great dancer, but now she was at least a tolerable one. Thanks to her grandmother, that was.  
- My grandmother…she taught me. She insisted that I learn how to behave like a 'Lady of the Noble House of Black'. Not that I ever understood why she did it… she wasn't even a Black herself…  
- But she knew that you where… and she probably realised that one day you might have to behave like a 'Lady of the House of Black'…  
Willow spoke the last sentence with so much exaggeration that Alex burst out laughing. Will laughed too, realising that she had said something funny. They had discarded their books in their dormitories, and were on their way to the Great Hall for dinner, along with the rest of the school.

Joining the rest of the gryffindors at their house table, the discussion was already going on heatedly among the seventh years. Some girls sat close together, giggling and talking about what they were going to wear. Willow raised her eyebrows at Alex and sighed. Alex got the picture. Right now, what to wear was the least of Willows problems. Alex didn't care much for the idea of finding anything to wear either. Formal events that required a dress had never been her style, and would never be, even if she someday were to be a Lady of the House of Black.

Willow was unusually quiet for the rest of the dinner, and Alex knew what was on her mind. She was dreading the ball. Alex thought to her self that she didn't blame her, she wasn't too keen on going herself, but at least she didn't have the problem Willow had. Her problem was of a different character. No boy in the school would ask her to the ball. Most of them were scared of her, and usually she liked it that way, but now it could cause a problem. And, even though she didn't really want to admit it to herself, she wasn't to keen on showing up without a date. But there was no way she would ask anyone. If someone asked her, that was fine, but if no one did she would go alone. She wasn't going to depend on anyone for the sake of a school dance.

The seventh years didn't have many other subjects of conversation in the weeks to come except for the upcoming graduation ball. They were even granted an extra trip to Hogsmeade in order to get their outfits ready.Willow was walking impatiently back and forth in the Gryffindor common room, waiting for Alex to come down from their dormitory. After a few minutes she had run out of patience, and shouted up the stairs.

- ALEX! COME ON, HURRY UP, OR WE'LL BE LATE…!

Willow heard steps coming down the stairs, and felt rather pleased with herself. She saw Alex coming down the circular staircase with a rather puzzled look on her face.  
Willow forgot that she was about to become mad at Alex for spending too much time getting ready for Hogsmeade.  
- Alex… what's going on…?  
- I need to show you something…you have to see this…  
Willow now looked as puzzled as Alex did, and followed her up the stairs.  
When they entered the dormitory it was empty, except for a jet-black owl with electric blue eyes, and a large parcel that lay on Alex's four-poster bed.  
- Alex, what's going on? Whose owl is that?  
- Oh, never mind him…  
At this the owl hooted softly, as if to remind them that he was to be minded.  
- … It's this that surprises me…

Alex pointed to the parcel lying on her bed, and walked over to it, lifting its contents so Willow could see it.  
The content was the most beautiful dress that Willow had ever seen. It shone with what seemed to be its own glow, the scarlet fabric adjourned with stones that glittered and sparkled.  
- That's…that's amazing, Alex. Who sent you that?  
Alex put the dress gently back into the box, and sat next to it on her bed.  
- My father…  
- Your…father?  
Willow looked as surprised as Alex felt. This was the very last thing she would expect her father to do.  
- Yeah, I know… Surprising, right?  
- That's putting it mildly, very mildly at that. Have you even spoken to him since he got out of Azkaban?  
Alex laughed, a short, bark-like laugh that reminded a lot of her father's.  
- Barely. I've spent the summer holidays at Headquarters, but I'd be surprised if we've exchanged more than two-dozen words while I've been there. He doesn't talk much, not to me, anyway…  
- And now he sent you this? But that must mean that he still cares about you, right?  
Alex shrugged  
- I suppose… It just doesn't seem like that to me…  
- Well, I see that… But you are going to wear the dress, right? You know I love you and everything, Alex, but if you don't wear that dress I'm going to tell you what bloody idiot you are…!  
Alex laughed. Willow was right; she would have to be barking mad not to wear a dress like that. Not to mention her father had now saved her the trouble of going to Hogsmeade and having to stand in line at the tailor's shop.  
Willow rose from her seat beside Alex, and looked at the box the dress was packed in.  
- Listen Alex, I've got to go, as opposed to you I have to get myself a dress… I'll see you later, right Alex?  
Alex nodded and smiled. Willow ran out of the dormitory to get to Hogsmeade in time. Alex sighed. The owl that had been sitting on her bedpost all the time now hooted softly and sat on her knee. She stroked its feathers gently with one hand, and pulled out the letter that had accompanied the parcel with the other.  
- I know, Lorne. I know… I'm acting like a bloody idiot, that what I'm doing…  
She unfolded the letter, and read it again.

_Dear Alexandra_  
At the first sentence the letter was strange. Her father had, to her knowledge, never called her anything but Alex before. She had never, not once, heard him call her by her whole name.  
_Dumbledore told me about the upcoming end-of-term ball. I figured you might need something to wear, and I thought of this. This dress once belonged to your mother, but it has been handed down through the Black family for several generations. It was given to your mother (however reluctantly) as the youngest 'Lady of the House of Black' when we were married. And whether you like it or not, the title 'Lady of the House of Black' now belongs to you, and so does the dress that goes with it.  
__I have never been happy being a member of the Black family, but unfortunately I have never, and never will, been able to choose, and neither can you. Although you have always lived with you mother's parents, you are of pure wizard blood going back centuries, and heiress to one of the wizarding world's most respected families. Maybe you, if no one else, can bring a little respect and humility into the House of Black._

_Sirius_

Alex read the letter through once again, and it puzzled her even more the second time around. What was all this talk of being of the 'House of Black'? Her father had never cared about being a Black, he had never cared about the family…he had never cared about her…  
_That's not true_ said a voice inside her head. _He does care about you…  
_Alex wanted to believe that the voice was right, but she couldn't quite bring herself to do it.  
How come he wanted her to take the role of heiress of the Black family? Alex sat there, the owl on her knee, having way more questions than answers.


	11. Shock & Horror

**Shock and Horror**

**Disclaimer: **Every character of the Harry Potter universe belongs to J.K Rowling. Only the characters Alex Black, Leo Snape and Willow Kayden are of my creation and accordingly they belong to me.  
**Author's Notes: **Wee…that's another chapter up! Sorry it took so long, but I really haven't gotten around to much writing lately. Anyway, I hope you enjoy!

The seventh year's graduation ball was coming closer and closer. The ball was now only two days away.  
Leo Snape was lying on his four-poster bed, looking at a pair of deep green, velvet dress robes. The light in the room made it seem like the fabric was moving, like a river, the water sparkling in sunlight. The silver details shone like a bright full moon.  
He dreaded wearing it. Secretly, in his mind he dreaded wearing it. It had been specially made for him in Diagon Alley, and had been sent to the school just in time for the ball.  
He hated the feeling those robes gave him. They fitted him perfectly, that wasn't the problem, it was just…the robes made him feel so stiff…like he couldn't move, and the fabric of the robes seemed to wrap itself around his body at its own accord, slowly strangling him.  
He loathed that feeling, and he would give much to avoid it.  
But there was no escape from this, his father had made that very clear to him. His father had insisted that he go, and when his father insisted on something it was not easy to say no.

Leo sighed and turned his face away from the robes hanging on his dresser. There was another problem, that he would not really admit was a problem, but it was, even if he didn't care to admit it. He lacked a date.  
He knew, of course, that he could not be the only one, but he didn't care much for the idea of going to his graduation ball alone. He knew that he would have to ask someone, but the one he really _wanted_ to ask would not consent to go with him, he knew that without speculation.  
Alex Black would never go with him.  
And so he would have to find someone else. But he didn't want to find someone else. The last thing he wanted was to spend an entire evening with some air-headed bimbo that didn't know of any other subject of conversation except for how handsome the lead singer of the Weird Sisters looked.  
And worse, he didn't know of any girl in school that wasn't such a bimbo, except for _her_. He knew that she couldn't be the only one, but he was in no mood to look for anyone else.

He had been over this in his head a hundred and one times already. He had come to the same conclusion every time; it was either Alex Black, or no one. It had to be no one. They boys of the school would be all over Alex Black, she would probably have gotten a date ages ago, probably some smart guy from Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw. Whoever she went with had to be smart. He couldn't picture her with some bone-headed guy that only cared about quidditch, she wasn't that type of girl.  
_Right, so definitely not Ron Weasly then…  
_He thought, and sniggered at his own wittiness. No, she would definitely have gotten a date by now. Even though she was clever enough to outsmart most of the boys in the school, and boys usually preferred someone less clever than them… No, she would have gotten a date.

Some guy would use her as a trophy piece! No! He thought to himself. She wouldn't act as a trophy piece to anyone. She was way to smart and had way too much dignity for that. Someone would still use her as a trophy. She was…gorgeous, and a guy who couldn't measure up to her intellect would use her as his trophy for the evening. He couldn't treat her like the lady she was, and so… His right fist hit the covers of his bed hard, and a fine cloud of dust danced in the sunlight from the window. She wasn't worthy of them! His conscience suddenly whispered in his ear, poisonous words that frightened him. Is she worthy of you? 

The teachers did their best in order to keep classes in order for the seventh years, but it seemed like a lost battle. Almost every conversation among the seventh years was in some way related to the ball. With only one day to go, most of the teachers had more or less given up what hope they might have had of a normal day of school. Some of the teachers gave up teaching completely and let the students use their classes to discuss the ball.

Professor Flitwick gave up trying to teach a normal class after five minutes (Actually, as Alex whispering informed Willow, it was four and a half minutes).  
His squeaking voice pierced through the buzz of voices that filled the classroom.  
- Everyone who does not have a goal of learning anything in this lesson is excused. You may leave. Those of you who wish to learn something may stay here.  
Only three people stayed in the classroom. Alex watched Willow leave the room while franticly trying to persuade another seventh year Gryffindor to teach her how to waltz.  
Alex, Leo and a seventh year Ravenclaw that never spoke a word, moved to the desks in the front of the classroom and started work. Leo sniggered as he took his seat next to Alex.  
- I thought you would rather discuss your dress with the rest of them, Black…  
Alex smiled, but seemed to ignore the hint that lay in his voice. She wasn't going to let her temper get to her in front of him.  
- No, I would rather pass my N.E.W.T.S, thank you very much…  
He had expected her to say something more, but she didn't. She sat quiet beside him working.  
He sighed and bent over his own work, not really caring about it. He would pass Charms with flying colours anyway, and he knew it. But then again, so would she, probably.

This was one of the reasons he secretly admired her, secretly _loved_ her. She was no silly, air-headed girl that only cared about boys, makeup and what she should wear. In fact she seemed to have little, if no interest in boys, and as far as he could remember he had never seen her with makeup, and she never seemed to think twice about what she wore. And that was what made her, at least to him, stunningly beautiful.

They sat there for a long while working, not saying anything. Leo was getting tired of it, he already knew what they were working on anyway, and he noticed that his concentration was slipping away from him.  
_Oh, go on you bloody fool, ask her!_  
_No, I can't_, he thought miserably to himself.  
_Why not? _His conscience fired back. _The worst thing she could say is 'no'…  
__Exactly! _Leo thought. _I don't think I can handle her saying no.  
_A few more minutes passed before Leo made a decision he feared he would regret for the rest of his life. He gave Alex Black a nudge in the side, and whispered.  
- Hey, Black…  
She turned her attention towards him, looking into his crystal blue eyes.  
- Yes…  
- I was wondering…  
She said nothing, but waited for him to continue.  
- … if you have a date for the graduation ball yet?  
When she heard the question she smiled, not a wicked smile, but more of an amused one.  
- Maybe I do, maybe I don't… What business is that of yours, anyway?  
- I was just wondering…  
- Well, for your information I don't have a date, and it doesn't really bother me. There, did that satisfy you curiosity?  
He nodded, and silence fell again, before he suddenly spoke.  
- Do you want to go with me?  
He regretted the words the minute he had spoken them. Why couldn't he ever manage to keep his mouth shut?

Alex stared at Leo. At first she was astonished by the question, and even wondered for a second if she had heard him correctly, but she didn't ask, she knew that she had. Leo Snape had asked her to the ball. After the surprise had settled in her mind, she felt…flattered. Even if he was the person he was, he was the first one to dare ask her to the ball. Should she accept? She knew that he was probably terrified right now, waiting for her answer; she could see fear in his eyes. She thought for a second, and then gave the answer she knew would scare him even more.  
- Yeah, sure. Why not?  
Then she smiled at him, packed her books and left the classroom without another word.

Alex sniggered as she walked along the hallways that would lead her to the Great Hall. She could not have done anything, nothing, that would make Leo Snape panic any more than he probably did in this moment. This thought led her to an interesting question; why had he asked her in the first place?

He wasn't exactly the type of guy that would develop a crush on her, even though, funny enough, that type of boys existed at Hogwarts. He had probably done it to give his father a shock. She couldn't deny that the same thought had passed through her head when she had accepted his invitation. The fact that the two of them were now going to the end-of-term ball together would undoubtedly shock his father as well as hers. She smiled at the thought, thinking of what that would mean to her future career as a "Lady of the House of Black". Most likely it would ruin it. Not that she really cared. In truth she wanted as little to do with the House of Black as her father did, and she had no intention of bringing the least amount of respect to that family if she could avoid it. Though her last name was Black, her mind and much of her soul belonged to the Kayle – family; her mother's family. Every ounce of disrespect the Black family had received from the larger part of the wizarding community, they had brought upon themselves while preaching the importance of blood purity, and Alex had no plan of regaining anything of that respect back to them.

She entered the Great Hall, and found her way over to the Gryffindor table where she sat down next to Willow.  
- Hey Will, guess what?  
Willow turned towards her.  
- What?  
- I got a date.  
Willow was eager now, her eyes were filled with curiosity and she had turned her whole body towards Alex, in order to get her in full view.  
- No way! Who?  
Alex smiled shrewdly. She knew that Willow was dying to know whom she was going with. It seemed to be Willow's goal in life to know everything that was unimportant to the world's existence.  
- You wouldn't believe me if I told you…  
- Oh Alex! Stop playing with me… I'm dying here. Tell me now!  
- Leo Snape.

Willow could not have looked more surprised if the sky had fallen down and hit her in the head. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but no words came out.  
- I wonder what my father is going to say to that…  
Alex grinned at Willow, who finally seemed to have regained the gift of speech.  
- Alex…I'm sorry for having to ask you this, but now you've left me with no other choice… Are you crazy?  
Alex laughed.  
- Not that I'm aware of, no…  
Even though Willow had regained the use of her mouth she seemed to dumbstruck to be able to form a whole sentence.  
- But…Alex, I mean… Snape… Snape for God's sake!  
- Why not, Willow? I mean, yeah he's…well, Snape, but… At least he's smarter than a lot of other guys I could have gone with, and his appearance isn't _that bad.  
_Willow raised an eyebrow and looked sceptically at Alex.  
- Alex, I cannot believe you're defending him! This is Snape we're talking about, Alex! This is the guy who stood up the entire D.A, and you most of all! And now you're defending him…  
Will shook her head in disbelief.  
- I'll talk to you later, when you've come to your senses, all right?  
- Hey, what's… Oh, come on Will…  
Willow had gotten up and was about to leave the table.  
- I'll see you later, Alex…  
Willow turned her back to Alex and walked swiftly out of the Great Hall.  
Alex sat alone back at the Gryffindor table. She sighed deeply.  
- What's gotten into everyone today? She said to herself.  
But her mind was speaking too, and it was saying something completely different.  
_Willow's got a point you know, Alex. Why are you defending him? Really…why are you defending him?_


	12. Another Day in Paradise

**Another Day in Paradise**

**Disclaimer:** All the characters of the Harry Potter universe belongs to J.K Rowling. No money is being made and no copyright infringement is intended. The characters Alex Black, Leo Snape and Willow Cayden are of my own creation and belong to me  
**Author's Notes: **This will most likely be the last ordinary chapter of "Enemies..." though I think I'm going to write an epilogue of some sort, which hopefully will be up quite soon. But since this fic is close to completion I would like to thank everyone who reviewed it and made other suggestions, and above all inspired me to keep writing it.

The girl dormitory in the Gryffindor tower was bustling with activity. An unknown, but undoubtedly large, number of seventh year girls were hurrying back and forth between the dormitory and the bathroom, while trying to do their hair, their makeup, and trying to have a discussion with at least two friends on what dress to wear, at the same time.  
Alex and Willow wisely tried to keep as much of a distance as they could. Their dresses still hung on their four poster beds, and it seemed all the girls in Gryffindor had been up there admiring Alex's dress.  
Willow's dress was also looking good. It was made of dark blue silk, decorated with silver, and it fitted Willow perfectly. For once, it seemed her parents had decided to let her have any dress she wanted. Willow, for one, seemed extremely pleased with this.  
Willow was admiring her own dress, while Alex was sitting in front of a mirror, arranging her hair.  
- You know, Alex, I still can't believe that you're going with Snape.  
Alex turned her head and looked at Willow.  
- Ok…then don't. But I am, and that's not going to change now, even if you never believe it.  
- Ok, ok…look Alex, I didn't mean it the way it sounded, it wasn't like that… It's just, I mean… Snape! A few months ago you were trying to kill him, and now you're going to a dance with him… Can you honestly blame me for being skeptic?  
Alex sighed and turned towards the mirror again.  
- No, not really…  
Willow fell back on her bed with a sigh.  
- Alex, I know, believe me, I do, but…you're my best friend. We've been friends for as long as I can remember… I just don't want to see you get hurt or anything. And I'm scared that he might do that to you… He doesn't seem like the kind of person who takes other peoples feelings seriously.  
Alex had turned around completely on her chair now, and was facing Willow with her back to the mirror.  
- Will, listen to me… It's a school dance for Christ's sake! I'm not planning on marrying the guy! The reason I said yes is that he's one of the few boys in this place who you can actually have a conversation with for more than two minutes without getting bored to death, and perhaps most importantly, I did it to scare him… I could se it in his face when he asked me; he was terrified. I just thought it would be fun to say yes, see how he took it. Besides it's not exactly a disadvantage that my father is going to go ballistic the minute he hears about me going with Snape.  
Alex grinned. Willow sat back up on the edge of her bed and looked at Alex with something that reminded of curiosity.  
- You seem to like thinking about what your father is going to say to this, Alex… How come?  
Alex had turned back to the mirror and continued to put on her makeup.  
- My father… she started …is a selfish jerk who doesn't care about anyone but himself, and who's only interested in knowing you if he knows you can be useful to him.  
Willow's mouth fell open and she looked horrified at Alex, still sitting in front of the mirror seemingly not noticing her reaction.  
- Alex…how can you say that? He's your father…  
- The fact that he's my father doesn't automatically make him a better person. It doesn't make him care a thing about me. He never did. I'll forgive him the years in prison, but still, he's been out now for about four years, and in all that time I'd be surprised if I ever exchanged more than half a dozen words with him.  
Alex sighed.  
- Am I scaring you, Will?  
Will nodded.  
- Yes, you bloody well are!  
Alex gave a tired smile.  
- Sorry about that…Really. It's just that I don't know how to relate to him, my father. It's not like he's given me a whole lot of clues on how to be around him…  
- Well, somehow I don't think that going out with the son of his archenemy is going to improve things between the two of you…  
- If my father is ever going to get to know me, he needs to know one thing. I am unpredictable. Maybe as unpredictable as he was once, maybe even more.  
Willow laughed.  
- I'm glad that you have that much self-insight, Alex, because you're right about that. You're damn unpredictable…  
Willow got up.  
- …But I've got to run. I promised Cian I would meet him downstairs…  
And almost before Alex knew it, Willow had disappeared from the room.

Alex shrugged as she studied her reflection in the mirror. If she could say so herself, she wasn't looking too bad… She had her hair up for once, she had make-up on for once… and when she put on her dress, she discovered that it was, even though she really did not want to admit it, amazingly beautiful, and it looked as though it had been especially made to fit _her,_ and not like some antique family heirloom that had been passed down through generations.  
Alex decided that her makeover was finished, and got up.

The Great Hall looked more beautiful than Alex could ever remember having seen it before. It was like the whole hall glowed with a magic light that seemed to come from the walls themselves. From the ceiling hung rows upon rows of small pearls, each with a different ever-changing coloured mist inside it, making them every colour anyone could ever imagine. Also there were hundreds of candles floating in thin air. The walls were covered in drapes of the colours of the four different houses, and there were also beautifully decorated mirrors placed by the walls, in order to make the hall look even bigger than it was. Alex recognised the trick, but it didn't stop her from being impressed by it. It was beautiful.  
But what impressed her even more than the decorations was seeing her fellow seventh-years dressed for a ball, and not wearing school uniforms or ordinary clothes like all of them used to. Suddenly the hall seemed filled with beautiful men and women, and some people she normally wouldn't look twice at were so beautifully dressed that she had trouble taking her eyes off them.  
She smiled as she looked around the hall. Most of these people were her friends, and it was strange to think that soon she would not see them every day. Some she might not see at all, ever again. The thoughts filled her with excitement and sadness all at once. Hogwarts had been her home for seven years, and it had been more of a home than she had ever had before, and the people in the castle had become both her friends and her enemies. But now she was aching to get away from school, and start her real life in the wizarding world.

She felt a hand on her shoulder, and she turned around to see whom it was. And there he stood, for once smiling, dressed in flowing robes of dark green and silver, holding out his arm for her to take. She took it with a slight smile, and he led her to the dance floor. He was Head Boy, and it was tradition that he should dance the first dance, together with the Head Girl and her partner.

Alex got a glimpse of Willow over his shoulder, and gave her an encouraging smile. She found herself being rather surprised of his dancing skills, she had expected him to be tolerable at it, but actually he was more than tolerable, he was a good dancer. He lead her around the floor as if he had never done anything else in his entire life, and that tall and thin body of his that normally seemed to be nothing but arms and legs now held a grace that Alex could have sworn had never been there before. She had never seen him like this, never even imagined that he could be like this. He was… beautiful.  
She didn't even notice it herself, but she was smiling.  
Every second the dance lasted seemed like an eternity, and it was the best eternity that Alex had ever experienced. It felt like she was floating through the air, safe in his arms.  
It was over too fast. She wished that it could have lasted forever, but it seemed the music ended just as soon as it had begun.  
What surprised her even more was that he also disappeared as soon as the music finished. Before she could blink he was gone in a swish of dark green robes. She stood for several moments, dumbstruck with shock. Where on earth had he gone? She even caught herself wondering if it had all been a dream. Because he wouldn't just disappear like that, would he?

She shot a quick glance around the Great Hall, and her eyes stopped at ever shade of green, but she couldn't identify the deep emerald shade that had been in his robes. She felt anger rise up inside her now, as far as she was concerned he had stood her up once already, after a while she had forgiven him that, but to do so again was a capital offence. It was a lesson soon learned by both Aurors and Death Eaters alike; you are never better or more trustworthy than the man next to you. He is the one that can keep you one step ahead of death, and you can do the same for him. Treason is the worst of crimes.

She walked out into the entrance hall, which was quiet and deserted for once. Only the candles in their holders on the walls burned and flickered in the draft that was always coming through the entrance hall. She felt her skin crawl from the sudden gust of cold wind, and for the briefest of moments she felt deserted and entirely alone. She detested the feeling, more because she had become so used to it than any other reason. It took her less than five seconds to regain her normal, controlled composure. Rule number two; never let them see you bleed.

In a split second she could have sworn she heard the outer doors being shut, but the sound was gone before she could identify it properly, she knew better than to shrug and say it was a trick of the mind, her instincts were too good for that. Slowly, carefully she made her way across the hall and to the wooden doors that lead out into the grounds. The metal-wrought door handle felt cold as she laid her fingers around it and pulled, as careful as she could. The door quickly gave in to her command, and opened out to the night outside.

A gentle, but cold night breeze met her as she stepped outside. So different was it from the air inside the castle that it made her eyes water. She blinked furiously in order for her eyes to accept the sudden change from light to darkness.  
She walked carefully down the front steps of the castle, looking around her but not being quite sure what she was looking for. She kept walking until she reached a passage usually used by the students on their way to the outdoor classes, but then something stopped her dead in her tracks.  
In the passage in front of her stood a tall cloaked and hooded figure, the fabric that covered it as black as a starless night. From a pale, white hand hung a mask.

- He'll kill you…  
The figure turned, revealing what she had thought. Leo Snape was no longer dressed in robes of emerald green, but in robes as black as sin, and clutching a white mask in his hand, its appearance like a skeleton's.  
- You know her will. If you go, he'll kill you, or he'll have them do it…  
When he turned to face her she thought to herself that he did not have the face of a Death Eater. One who would bother to look into his eyes would see the eyes of a desperate man.  
- There is no other way. I have no other option…  
She stepped towards him and grabbed his arms, forcing him to face her.  
- Yes, you do! Stay! Stay here, with me… You'll be safe here; he won't come here for you.  
He sighed, and smiled a tired smile, like that of a father to a child who has no clue of how the world works.  
- Alex, you don't understand. If I don't go to Him, he will come for me, no matter where I am, and he'll use whatever means necessary to get to me. He could take you…  
A short mocking laugh escaped Alex's lips.  
- Let him try, I'm not afraid of him!  
- But I am, and no matter what you say I will not let you risk this… You're too precious to me for that, Alex. In this battle I have no one to count on but myself. And I might be able to convince him that I'm still on his side, but you have to let me go…  
And with that he bent down and gave her a kiss. It was not a kiss that would normally follow a declaration of love, nor was it the sort of desperate kiss one might give to a love that was about to disappear forever. It was a kiss, a simple kiss, but still it said more than a thousand words could ever say. It was in itself the deepest declaration of love possible.

It took a second for Alex to realise that her eyes were in fact closed, and when she opened them again all she saw was a final swish of black robes into the shadows of the night. He was gone, and Alex was struck by a thought she would come to hate, a thought that would haunt her for years to come, but even though she despised it beyond words she knew it was the truth. She knew, like one sometimes just knows, more by instinct than anything else, that it was true.

_I will never see him again._

In the falling darkness outside the castle a shadow stopped to look over his shoulder, back at what he had given up, and the things he knew he would never return to. The person he would never see again.

_I liked you from the start, Black. You had courage…_


	13. Another time, Another place

**Disclaimer: **The wonderful universe of Harry Potter belongs to it's creator J.K Rowling. No money is being made from this, and no copyright infringement is intended. The only thing that belongs to me are the characters Alex Black and Leo Snape  
**Author's Notes: **Ok, so this is definently the final chapter of Enemies Until Death (oh, and I know that I've said that before). For what happens next - use your imagination. I want to thank everyone that reviewed this story, and those who encouraged me and read my work, giving me priceless feedback. You know who you are! Enjoy the end of Enemies!

It was winter in the wizarding town of Hogsmeade. To be more exact it was mid-December and Christmas was approaching fast, to some too fast, to others not quite fast enough. The streets of the village was filled with wizards of all kinds, most of them finishing their preparations for the holiday at hand.  
By the window of the Hogsmeade pub The Three Broomsticks sat a young woman with hair as black as a starless night and eyes the colour of water that runs from a glacier. In front of her stood a large cup half-filled with butterbeer. Her eyes followed the activity on the street outside. She saw housewives, husbands and children, young and old alike all seemed to have gathered in the centre of the village to make the final preparations for Christmas. The young woman sitting in the bar envied them.  
She envied both the exhausted housewives, the fed-up husbands and the children nagging their parents for sweets, she envied them all.  
She was alone.

So immersed was the young woman in the world outside the bar window that she did not notice a young man now standing in front of her on the other side of the table.  
-Excuse me, may I sit here?  
Taken aback at the question the young woman looked up and saw a man who looked to be about her own age standing there opposite her.  
- Yes, of course…have a seat.  
- Everywhere else is full…  
The sentence remained hanging in the air between them. She studied him curiously as he sat, she had a feeling that she knew him from somewhere, there was something familiar about him, something that she couldn't quite place. There was silence for a while, with both of them studying the other.  
- It's absolute chaos out there… he continued. She cast another look out on the street, and nodded in agreement.  
- Yes. It seems Christmas takes everyone by surprise every year.  
He smiled, and nodded.  
- You don't seem to stressed out about it though…  
She shrugged, and looked at him across the table. It was so strange, she thought, how familiar he seemed to her somehow. It annoyed her that she could not place him, she knew she had to have seen him somewhere before. Little did she know that on the other side of the table he was pondering the exact same mystery.  
- Christmas was never that special time of the year for me. Well, not since I quit school anyway… it's not tempting to spend any time at all with what little family I do have at any time of the year, Christmas or otherwise.  
- I guess you could say the same apply to me… he agreed, but then he froze. It had suddenly dawned on him who this mysterious woman was. Quickly he asked;  
- You didn't by any chance quit school the summer of five years ago did you?  
She was stunned, and for a minute or so she was speechless, but she got enough of a grip on herself to ask;  
- How on earth did you know that…?  
But then she too froze. Realisation had come upon her as well.  
Her next words were only whispered.  
- By the grace of Merlin…Snape. Leo Snape!  
- Alex Black…  
Before he could think another thought she had jumped up from her seat and given him a hug across the table, almost knocking over the two mugs of butterbeer that was already wobbling on it.  
- I thought you were dead! I thought about you, wondered where you were and if you were even alive… When I didn't hear anything, I thought…

He was slightly overwhelmed at first. _She had thought of him_. He had tried his best to forget about her, thinking that it would do no good if Voldemort prevailed, because then she would most certainly die, if she hadn't already. But he had never managed to forget. She had been there all along, as a last, good memory in the back of his mind. And now he heard from her own mouth that she had thought of him too… Words could not describe the happiness he felt inside.  
On the other side of the table, Alex Black was still amazed of who was sitting opposite her.  
- So how have you been? What happened to you after we parted that night?  
- I could ask you the same…  
- Sure you could, but I asked first.  
He smiled slightly, half to himself, half to her. She hadn't changed that much, he thought. She still had that edge that he had always admired.  
- Alright, fine, but if you want the whole story you'll have to have a lot of time, and I'm going to need something stronger than this…  
He indicated the mugs of butterbeer. She smiled.  
- Time is one thing I have plenty of today, and if you want my story in return, I'm going to need one of whatever you are having as well.  
He got up and walked over to the bar, and when he returned to the table with two double firewhiskeys. As he settled at the table again he began his tale.  
- Well, I suppose you remember well enough what took place at Hogwarts in our final year. After I left you that night at the ball, I went to join him again…the Dark Lord…Voldemort.  
He took a sip of the oak coloured liquid and took a breath before continuing.  
-…It's difficult to describe to a non-follower, even one who has seen what you have seen, just how tight a leash the Dark Lord has on his followers. When I returned to him that night, he questioned me personally about my actions. I don't want to go in detail, but let's just say that he was very thorough in his questioning. He questioned me to within an inch of my life…  
- I'm guessing that's where the scar comes from… the one on your neck?  
He nodded silently.  
- That's one of the few you can see…If you were to describe them all you would definitely have to use the plural form.  
He smiled in an effort to remove the shocked expression from her face. He knew the tale to well for it to scare him anymore. After all it was his tale… but those few he had told it to mostly sported the same expression now on her face.  
In a flash it was as if she realised it herself, and it disappeared and was replaced by a more stoic but still empathic expression.  
- Sorry…it just never ceases to astound me, what depths of cruelty that existed in those people.  
- Well, at least the two of us survived. But both of us know of people who didn't… I continued to serve him, of course, but I was never trusted by anyone in the service again. They all watched their back when it came to me, and I rather liked that actually…  
- What about after the Downfall, what happened to you then?

He laughed. The question was bordering on absurdity, but still it was justified coming from her. What could a Death Eater do after his master's downfall? 'Not much' was the answer. No one would hire one of his kind, and he had not the connections necessary to keep himself afloat. After the Downfall he had been on equal footing with the werewolves, which was not a good place to be.  
- Not much I'm afraid. No one wants to be seen with one who still bears the mark… But enough of my sob story, now I want to hear yours. And I'm hoping it's a better one…  
She laughed, and took a sip from her glass.  
- I could make it a better one…but I'll be as truthful as I can with you. You're close enough to deserve it…  
-…I kept fighting too, obviously. Family weakness I'm afraid… And after that, well, I ended up in the Department.  
At this he let out a shriek of laughter causing him to almost spill what was left of his drink for the second time that afternoon.  
- You? The Department…?  
- Yes! What's so funny about that?!  
- Oh come on! Alex Black working for the Department?  
- Actually, if you want to know…  
- Oh, and I do…  
-… I hate the damn Department! Just the fact that I could get fired right now if an official heard that statement makes me sick…  
- So why do you keep working for them then?  
- I've got to live somewhere! And some food on the table wouldn't be a bad idea either, would it? And so far the Department has given me that, but…  
- But what?  
- But I have another job offer…  
- So go for it! Anything is better than the Department… What kind of job offer, by the way?  
- Now, don't you laugh!  
- I promise I won't.  
- If you laugh Snape, my fist is going to have an encounter with your face at a very nearby point in time…  
- Alex…come on. I promise that I won't laugh…  
- Alright…McGonagall asked me to join the teaching staff…  
He was speechless, and he knew that the foolish grin that came across his face must look absolutely ridiculous, but he didn't care.  
- Wow…at Hogwarts?  
- Yeah, unless she's mysteriously changed to be headmistress of another school in the meantime…  
- Well…what did you say?  
- I said I'd think about it, but I'm going to say 'no'…  
- What!? Why would you do that…? You said it yourself, you hate your current job. Teaching can't be that bad…  
- No, probably not, but come on Leo! You can't seriously see me teaching anyone, can you?  
- Yes I damn well can! Better you than Umbridge… you'd be one of the Departments better contributions to the school, believe me. Especially if it was Defence, or Transfiguration, or possibly even Charms… You been out there fighting, you've seen things, you know how the game works… You'd be the next generation's Mad-Eye Moody.  
She laughed, and smiled at him across the table.  
- Just because you said that, I'll give it a second thought. But I still don't think I'll accept… I don't have the patience to teach people.  
- You taught yourself, though. Fighting, I mean…  
- Yeah, but that was different… She took another sip of the mahogany coloured liquid.  
… I didn't have any patience with myself, I got absolutely furious when I got something wrong, which was quite often.  
The was a pause.  
- True, he said, mimicking her move and putting the glass to his lips.  
… but the war taught us all patience. We all felt the deep breath before the plunge. It comes to a point when you realise that there is nothing you can do, but wait. And then put up the best fight you can and hope you make it until the end.  
She leant back in her chair, seemingly taking in every word he said. There was a look in her eyes, a mix between wonder and remembrance. It was as if she contemplated the world, and life.  
- It is so strange how it all turns out, she said after a moment.  
… I never thought I would survive at all, and when it was all over I could not bring myself to believe it really was. There are times when I still wake up in the middle of the night, expecting the dark creatures wearing cloaks and masks to burst in through my bedroom door that very moment. It is as if my life got stuck in some strange time-trap. The war is over, but it's all still so close that I am afraid I'll discover that it is just a lie, and it's at just enough of a distance for me to fear it. Now I fear death. I was afraid while I fought, but never afraid to die… and now I am. I don't understand it, and that, when I think about it, is the most frightening of it all.  
- I know. He said simply, and strangely enough that was all he needed to say. There was an understanding between them, like there is between everyone that has seen a war up close and personal. She knew that he knew the feeling of fear and helplessness just as well as her.

- Well, talk about a cheerful catching-up conversation… he said with an edge of laughter lining his voice, after the silence of his last words had lasted that second too long.  
She seemed a bit awkward, but not really embarrassed at the realisation that there had been a silence at all.  
- Yeah…sorry about that. Really… It was my fault for bringing it up…  
He shook his head gently.  
- Never mind it. It's my own fault for choosing to mingle with the most skilled practitioner of the Dark Arts in centuries, and getting myself entangled in the midst of a war in the process… It's no wonder that my life doesn't encourage more pleasant topics of conversation.  
Somewhere in the buzz of sound around them a clock struck six. Hearing this Leo Snape suddenly remembered why he had entered Three Broomsticks in the first place…passing the time.  
- Listen Black, I've got to run, I'm meeting someone…  
An impressed whistle came from the woman on the other side of the table, and her voice was deliciously full of a sort of curious, light cruelty.  
- Oh really…meeting someone, are you? I don't believe you… I think you are just trying to disguise that you still have a curfew…  
He laughed out loud, and if the bar hadn't been so crowded everyone would have heard him. It took a few minutes before he managed to say anything, and when he did tears of laughter were running from his eyes.  
- Oh God, I've missed that sense of humour…  
He had stood to leave, and rummaged around in all his pockets to find something to write with and on. He scribbled something on a scrap of paper and handed it to Alex.  
- Here. Keep in touch, Black… But now I've _really_ got to run.  
She took the piece of paper from him, smiled and let him go without anything more. But halfway to the door he turned back towards her.  
- Black! Think twice about that job offer…  
- I will… she said.

He turned to leave, but she called him back.  
- Leo! I do have a first name you know… call me Alex.

As she watched him leave she looked at the piece of paper in her hand. An address was written on it.

_And I might just actually manage to keep in touch this time _she thought to herself as she watched his black cloak disappear in the snowdrift outside the window.


End file.
